I should be calling this the VT mix, since one of the longest running fans of old school Wednesday podcasts, VT,had a birthday a couple of months ago. THe death of Aretha, as well aslife in general, made it more challenging to get it out of the door. I am finally, funally satisfied (what can I say I am mmy own worst critic!)

Cherrelle and THe System were the easiest to pull out (I’m still amazed at how that video looked when I first heard it Still waiting for the breakdancing King Kong to appear in the neighborhood.) Prince and Jesse following them was easy too.

And then I got into that music rut which doesn’t happen very ofteh but this time that and the desth of Aretha followed suit. it took me a while to locate some gems. “What Does It Take” is one of a very select few remakes tht are vclassics, and this makes it my favorite Kenny G cut, and John Elias a force to be reckoned with.

I was listening to a podcast featuring Jeffrey Osborne last week and as the people interviewing him were talking abiout their fsvorite cuts from him, I realized that my favorite track was the one he mentoned Plane Love. The classc Fatback Band cut was followed by an instrumental from THe Brothers Joihnson, which provides as a segue into the submime Raydio cut. If you listen to the lyrics, you’ll you see this smooth cut is a cold reality0check. Whew!

Kashif’s nice track is followed by the long forgotten track from Lee Ritenour, which was played on the R&B stations in the south in the early 80s.The Family blends perfectly into Sade, which slides right into DeBarge, ConFunkShun, The Gap Band, and Loose Ends. Hope you enjoy ‘

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Tracklisting:

01. Wonderful02. Spanish Harlem03. Chain Of Fools04. Rock Steady05. Respect06. Think07. Daydreaming08. Until You Come Back To Me09. Oh Me Oh My (I’m A Fool For You)10. Don’t Play That Song (You Lied)11. Pullin’12. I Never Loved Man (The Wy I Love You)13. Angel14. I’m In Love15. Call Me16. Ain’t No Way17. Sparkle18. (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman19. Something He Can Feel20. Hooked On Your Love21. Rock With Me22. Take Me With You23. Rollin’ In The Deep24. Freeway Of Love25. Get It Right26. Jump To It27. Who’s Zomin’ Who28. Love All The Hurt Away (with George Benson)29. A Rose Is Still A Rose30. Dr. Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)

This time, I’m going to let the music do the talking. Share your thoughts- I know I will. Special special thanks go to NT Grundy, Mike Seneadza, Buford Durr, Craig Washington, Mike W., and Sharon Robinson for making this experience far easier than I thought it would be, and much more richer than I imagined. Hope you enjoy.

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I started on this in February and meant to get it done by St. Patrick’s Day, but time wasn’t on my side. When I finally got a chance to do this thigh, there were so many thoughts in my head that it took a while to get it perfected the way I wanted to; however, because of all that, I believe I have enough tracks for two more, so expect a couple more of them soon.

Loose Ends’ Hanging On A String is one of my favorite tracks of all time, so I had t to include it. In fact, this track was released on the US side 33 years ago. If that is not considered old-school, then I don;t know what it is. Welcome To The Club by Blue Magic was inspired by the Unsung episode about the band. I had just happened top hear this version on one of the CDs I purchased which had a lot of great tracks, this included.

I’m sure that the old school aficionados will love George Duke and Slave, in addition to Donna McGhee, which is a nice mellow groove with some very direct lyrics. The instrumental Dreaming has an incredible bass line which makes me smile each time I listen to it, and the Joyce Sims track is a smooth track to end with, since it never gets old. I could go on and on about the other tracks, but I am sure most will agree that this is a nice summertime mix to groove.

There’s so much to say, but time is at a premium on this wonderful day. Much love to you and I do hope you enjoy.
Drops from DJ Diva, Macedonia, and G-Dub. Much love to the geezers Victor(no pressure!), and AR Hamilton. Hope you enjoy.

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I coould talk about this at length, but for this one, I’m going to keep it as simple as possible. I had a rule of 80 minutes maximum for a podcast (the length of a CD) but for this one, I was actually forced to cull it down from nearly 2 hours, and as a result it is just above 80 minues, and you won’t see that happen very often.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll touch on a few key elements. The track from Blue Zone was one of the first tracks that featured Lisa Stsansfield and was released before Affection, her first album. If you are unfamiliar with Wally Badarou, he is one of the principal songwriters and producers of Level 42 and is considered the hidden fifth member. This track came from his first album which was released in 1979, Back to Scales Tonight. Soul The Family Sensation’s vocalist is Jhelisa, who you know for the track Friendly Pressure and one of my favorite albums, Galactica Rush. Mica’s track, which was slept on, from her first album, So Good, and was co-written by her. Her friend Will Downing is on vocals as well.

There are quite a bit of things going on in this mix, as I tried to put a little bit of everything that was requested and talked about, while also paying homage to those who have passed/ Even though I usually try to find a dance hit to start off the mix with, after frustration, I just let the music play until I finally heard Alex’s voice and that’s what made me start out with To Make You Love Me. Curtis and Evelyn were easy choices, although I ultimately was persuaded by a group of folks for “I’m In Love” as the third track.

The Norman and Patti energetic tracks give way to Mutual Attraction, with Nick’s spin on it, which I played three times in a row to take it all in which is why it is the title track. My fave track from Howard Jones brightened up my morning on Wednesday, so Level 42 was an obvious choice to follow it. “Call Me Tonight” is one of my favorite instrumentals of all time and continues the homage to Kashif. The jam from The System is followed up with a Melissa/Peabo duet, given the green light by Nikki bka Infinite Ink. Angela is followed by Cameo’s track, given a huge thumbs up by DJ Vinnie V and AR, among others. One Way;s timeless track was played quite a few times, and one of my all time faves from Steely Dan caps this mix, and you can rest assured that there will be others presented this year with additional podcasts.

This took some time to come out because I am starting to get more particular about how I want this to sound, but I finally got it out. Around my birthday, I wanted to go a little more mellow than usual (I suppose we can attribute that to age, right?) Most should be familiar to most with the exception of Nicci. I had to put Steely Dan in because I had been wanting to do that for the longest, and Genie was a perfect succession to Human, since it had that Jan and Lewis feel to it as well. Hope ou enjoy.

The first podcast of the summer. Flytetyme is in two places, beginning the podcast with Thelma Houston and near the conclusion with SOS Band’s biggest hit. Dynasty’s hit that is severely underrated continues the cast, with Howard (with Kashif) leading the wy to Quincy and Patti with the supreme headnodder Razzamatazz. George Benson (alon with Kashif this time as well) continues the smooth groove which brings us t the melanin-light soulful hit from back in the day with Ambrosia. Bert Robinson coms back hard with his only hit Heart Of Gold, leading the way for the 1975 instrumental from Hohnny Hammond. Chris Jasper and Colonel Abrams slow it down a bit with classic slow jams Like I Do and the very unappreciated Table For Two. Ending with the three mid-to-uptempo hits from Shalamar, SOS Band, and Change (with Luter at the helm) places the icing on the cake. Much love to the geezers Wilson, Jeffery, and DJ G Dub. Hope ou enjoy..

Starting with The Jacksons, ending with Stevie, and hitting all points in between. Whole Roberta, Jones Girls and Hall and Oates provide the well known hits, the Bar Kays, Niteflyte and :ace pull some mostly forgotten gems out, which is always a good thing. My personal favorites are THe Blackbyrds which I sing (by myself, fr fear of being banished), Isley Jasoer Isley, and the classic from Stevie bringing things to a close complete with rappying and being the hype man. Much love to the geezers Jeffery and Wilson from the UK (bloody hell) and DJ G Dub. Hope you enjoy.

I get lots of input from musicheads here and around the globe. This one is no exception, particularly since I hit up a friend of mine from London and asked him for some of his favorite tracks. Of course, it was just like adding a fireman to unscrew a fire hydrant when asking for a sip of water. He’s the one that made this sweet and easy, particularly with the Change, Patti Austin, Millie Scott, Lillo, and the SOS Band tracks, The icing on the cake is one of the original tracks from Loose Ends , In The Sky, one of the very first tracks they released which cannot be found on any album. Much, much, love to him, and you can be sure that this wont be the last time he’ll be digging in the treasure chest and unearthing some great music.

I’m still spinning The New Jersey Connection, Sherrick and Damaris and the podcast wouldn’t be complete without placing Prince at the end with one of my favorite B-Sides, 17 Days.

Anyone who asks you will tell you that it’s rare when I listen t radio stations, but when I do, one of my alltime favorites is WCLK- Jazz Of The City, whch keps me going every day w which makes these podcasts easier to put out. From United Future Organization from Japan to Dee C. Lee from England, this became more global when reinforces the fact that music is universal.

The things I am hoping you will notice in the mix is the bea that was the scrath that was used in “Love Squall,” the quirkiness of Swing Out Sister andSlakah THe Beatchild, the funk brought to you by The Family, and the arrangement of the Dee C. Lee track which is quite subime. Repercussions “Turn Your Card” was chosen because the album “Earth And Heaven” was relayed to me from a friend almost 10 years ago and was no small feat to find. The track “Turn Your Card” has a special place in my heart. Shoutouts go to Ricky, AR, Ronald, Mr. Fresh, and Kat. Hope you enjoy.

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I have officially been podcasting for 10 years and I could not be happier. There has been trials and tribulations along the way, for sure, but this is still a complete joy for me, and I don’t see any end in sight. Onward and upward!

Starting this out is an absolutely sublime track by Rose Royce followed up by Tracy Weber’s “Sure Shot” a great track recommended by AR Hamilton and is also the track that SoulPersona used to flavor the wonderful track “Stretched Thin”. This is followed up Johnny Ingram’s track which I love because of it’s boldness and definitely groove-heavy. Three late but great artists are represented next with grooves by Kashif, Whitney, and an extended version of the Phyllis Hyman track which was written by the members of Loose Ends and produced by Nick Martinelli.

Windjammer, the US group from New Orleans which had more success in England follows up with “Tossing And Turning” which is followed up by the track from Bee Gees which was used by Total in the track “When Boy Meets Girl.” This is followed up by a track from Loose Ends which collaborated with Leon Ware for the track “Easier Said Than Done.”

Smooth grooves complete this podcast, of course. O’Brayn and The Mac Band bring their style to the forefront, with the Mac Band delivering a track that was written by Gary Taylor, who also recorded the track himself. Quincy brought three great artists together- Minnie Riperton, Leon Ware and Al Jarreau to deliver “If I Ever Use This Heaven” which is followed by tracks from Don Blackman and finally capped off with “Moonlighting” by Al Jarreau for the perfect ending.

This podcast is or making up for lost time, since I wasn’t able to produce one for last year. This is why you see several acts that released albums in 2015 as well as last year. Also, although this list barely scratches the surface regarding artists that passed lsst year, I wanted to at least touch on Kashif, Prince, and George Michael. Shoutout to KB Burke, AR Hamilton, and Laurence Goodwin for their much needed input for this podcast which was a labor of love! Hope you enjoy.

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The tracks selected here represent what were the most influential of tracks in 2016 – tracks that came out this year or that had a lasting impression on me, Please note thawt these do not include tracks from artists who have passed on- these will be part of additional postcasts for 2017.

At the beginning of this year, I started looking more carefully at music that came out of New Zealand. I came into this realization whilke being enamored with Sorceress (formerly known aqs Funkommunity. This allowed me to delve into the production of Isaac Aesili as well, whch unlocked a tresureful of tracks that I’m still grooving to till this day. “Pretending” and “Chemistry” are two tracks that I played on a regular basis.

Being in England and being able to witness D-Influence, one of my favorite bands of all time, is why D-Influence, as well as up and coming act from the UK, MNEK is present. Listening to them also introduced me to Ritual and Nao, which is why there are also on this list. In addition, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul came out with two great albums which are also represented here.

Thanks to soulful sister AR Hamilton, I was introduced to Ed Motta as well as affirming that Kaytranada’s 99.9$ album and Anderson.Paak’s album Malibu were also very good. KING, Tuxedo, Robert Glasdper and Terrace Martin are not to be slope on as well. Hope you enjoy.

Got requests? Comments? Need to vent? Send an email to ejflavors at gmail dot com. For those who’d like to subscribe to these podcasts,enter this link manually into iTunes. Take it light.